Like people have been saying, Sacks is the GM and now he has his right hand man. The title doesn't matter, this hire should put all this "VP of Operations" is not a GM stuff to rest.

Lakerhater03

09/22/2012 - 10:14 AM PST

Clipper D-League Pickup

Posts: 9

I know Gerald Madkins personally. His son is friends with mine. Every time i see him, his friendliness doesn't stop and neither does his knowledge of the game. At UCLA, he was one of my favorite players and it is great to see him once again get hired in a high position after his gruesome injury. Gerald has done some great things for many franchises including drafting Russel Westbrook for the Sonics. He was the guy that made that pick all happen, it was his idea and he got much criticsm. He then went on to the rockets, but it was a short stint that was masked by injuries of his players. Then the Hornets job came for him and look what he did there, turned them around. The great draft they had this year was mainly his doing, besides the lottery of course. This is just a great guy in general to have around the organization and during draft time he should do wonders for us.

Love to see this. Never heard of the man but he has a resume and experience. We know they're filling in the empty offices with pros. Very glad they got this done and made the announcement so we know and the national media knows that the organization is serious.

Icecoldclipper

09/22/2012 - 02:58 PM PST

CTB MVP X3

Posts: 10452

Always good to get additional input in the front office.

tense2

09/22/2012 - 04:24 PM PST

CTB MVP X3

Posts: 11527

Two good takes on the hire by Clipper Blog and Clipper Nation:

Is this a good hire?

Before breaking down what little info I've uncovered on Madkins, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is good for the Clippers for two reasons: 1. Madkins undoubtedly has some relationship with Chris Paul from their days with the Hornets, so bringing people Paul is familiar with only strengthens the likelihood of his re-signing, and 2. The Clippers hired away a well-regarded executive while also refraining to consolidate positions within the front office.

(It also helps shed some of the "cheap" label as I'm sure Madkins would not have left New Orleans if the Clippers did not offer a competitive wage, even if it meant a step up organizationally.)

Whether Madkins ultimately works out or not, the cultivating of self-awareness by the Clippers, that they need to improve in all aspects of the organization, is invaluable. And the outside hiring of a notable front office position, shows that awareness.

My biggest problem with it really was that it seemed very much as if the Clippers were hollowing out there front office team. Going back to 2008, the Clippers had gone from Elgin Baylor, Olshey, Sacks working in basketball ops to just Sacks, with no equivalent outside hires to replace the promoted-from-within Olshey and Sacks.

Well if that was my main criticism, then I have to give the organization its due today as they have now hired Gerald Madkins to be the Director of Basketball Ops, filling Sacks' old job.

Madkins has spent the past two seasons with the New Orleans Hornets as the director of player personnel. Before that he had worked for the Rockets, Sonics and Knicks and has a total of 10 years in NBA front office positions mostly on the scouting front. And yes, if Madkins was with the Hornets the last two seasons that means he overlapped with Chris Paul there for a year, which may have been a factor in this hire.

If the name is familiar, Madkins is a former UCLA Bruin who played in the late 80s and early 90s on some of Jim Harrick's first UCLA teams. He was a teammate of Don MacLean, who currently works as an analyst for Fox Sports on Clippers games. Madkins had a cup of coffee in the NBA, appearing in 48 games with the Cavs and the Warriors before switching to coaching (he was an assistant at UCLA) and NBA front office work.

So while I may still be somewhat underwhelmed by the Sacks hiring, I can certainly admit that he's earned a shot, and I'll be willing to judge him on his performance in the role -- a performance that is off to a good start based on the team's offseason. And now that Madkins has been brought in to shore up basketball ops, the team has addressed one of my main concerns at the time of the hire.